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Articles › Home school ruling should strike fear
by Bob Barr April 2, 2008
Home schooling is an important component of Georgia's educational framework. Many thousands of families across the state school some 40,000 children in their homes. It is a system that continues to work well for Georgia parents so inclined.
From my own experience as a member of Congress who personally reviewed hundreds of applications for admission to our country's military academies, I can attest to the fact that high school seniors who had been home schooled for all or part of their academic careers competed favorably in all aspects of academics with students who attended public or private schools. Georgia is not alone in recognizing the value of home schooling; virtually all other states do as well.
However, that vital system of home schooling is now threatened. Georgia parents, legislators and others who care about fairness and choice in education, and who value parental rights and individual freedom, should take note and take steps to ensure that a recent court decision in California does not take hold in our state.
While those of us east of the Mississippi, particularly here in the South, are aware that California courts generally render decisions favoring maximized government control and minimized individual liberty, a recent appeals court in that state is breathtaking in its disdain for historic notions of individual and family freedom.
The California Court of Appeals has effectively outlawed home schooling, and the ripple effects of this judicial tsunami may be felt even here in the Peach State.
The facts underlying the California case did not even relate directly to the institution of home schooling, but rather involved alleged abuse and neglect. Notwithstanding this, the decision took an unexpected turn when the majority ruled that every child in the state must be enrolled in and attend full time either a public or accredited private school, where they are to be taught only by state-certified teachers. Only parents who are state certified could home school their children.
The intent of the California jurists to completely abolish home schooling could not have been clearer: "Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children." To ensure the message was not misunderstood, the court held that violators could be prosecuted and jailed. With the stroke of a judicial pen, home schooling parents in California became common criminals.
In Orwellian language, this decision sends a clear message that children are to be considered obedient wards of the state. Parents who might disagree with the state-developed and state-sponsored curriculum or teaching methods are slap out of luck. Home schooling is simply not an option.
The California court decision not only bows to longstanding cries from teachers unions that home schooling undermines their role, but also wholly disregards the unique needs and wants of both parents and students who choose to home school. For many children, home schooling is the only viable alternative to a system that is not effective in light of their specific needs and desires. Home schooling also offers a constructive way of keeping children from becoming dropouts, by promoting tailored curricula to help students excel and want to learn - traits glaringly lacking in much of the public school population.
Even more troubling is the risk this decision poses to home schooling nationwide. California, as the nation's most populous state, unfortunately serves in many respects as a model to other parts of the nation. The huge number of textbooks used by California's public schools, for example, often prompts publishers to tailor the content of their publications to that state's desires.
Clearly also, the California court decision raises the truly dangerous possibility that shortsighted courts in other parts of the country will rush to act in a similar fashion. There is the harrowing specter of dissolving entirely a family's right to control education.
Rather than calmly waiting for the effects of the California court's opinion to be felt here, Georgia legislators and other state leaders should be speaking loudly and clearly against this destructive decision. They should already be reviewing our laws as they relate to home schooling - to strengthen them against the onslaught that has now been empowered by the California Court of Appeals.
by Bob Barr April 2, 2008
Home schooling is an important component of Georgia's educational framework. Many thousands of families across the state school some 40,000 children in their homes. It is a system that continues to work well for Georgia parents so inclined.
From my own experience as a member of Congress who personally reviewed hundreds of applications for admission to our country's military academies, I can attest to the fact that high school seniors who had been home schooled for all or part of their academic careers competed favorably in all aspects of academics with students who attended public or private schools. Georgia is not alone in recognizing the value of home schooling; virtually all other states do as well.
However, that vital system of home schooling is now threatened. Georgia parents, legislators and others who care about fairness and choice in education, and who value parental rights and individual freedom, should take note and take steps to ensure that a recent court decision in California does not take hold in our state.
While those of us east of the Mississippi, particularly here in the South, are aware that California courts generally render decisions favoring maximized government control and minimized individual liberty, a recent appeals court in that state is breathtaking in its disdain for historic notions of individual and family freedom.
The California Court of Appeals has effectively outlawed home schooling, and the ripple effects of this judicial tsunami may be felt even here in the Peach State.
The facts underlying the California case did not even relate directly to the institution of home schooling, but rather involved alleged abuse and neglect. Notwithstanding this, the decision took an unexpected turn when the majority ruled that every child in the state must be enrolled in and attend full time either a public or accredited private school, where they are to be taught only by state-certified teachers. Only parents who are state certified could home school their children.
The intent of the California jurists to completely abolish home schooling could not have been clearer: "Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children." To ensure the message was not misunderstood, the court held that violators could be prosecuted and jailed. With the stroke of a judicial pen, home schooling parents in California became common criminals.
In Orwellian language, this decision sends a clear message that children are to be considered obedient wards of the state. Parents who might disagree with the state-developed and state-sponsored curriculum or teaching methods are slap out of luck. Home schooling is simply not an option.
The California court decision not only bows to longstanding cries from teachers unions that home schooling undermines their role, but also wholly disregards the unique needs and wants of both parents and students who choose to home school. For many children, home schooling is the only viable alternative to a system that is not effective in light of their specific needs and desires. Home schooling also offers a constructive way of keeping children from becoming dropouts, by promoting tailored curricula to help students excel and want to learn - traits glaringly lacking in much of the public school population.
Even more troubling is the risk this decision poses to home schooling nationwide. California, as the nation's most populous state, unfortunately serves in many respects as a model to other parts of the nation. The huge number of textbooks used by California's public schools, for example, often prompts publishers to tailor the content of their publications to that state's desires.
Clearly also, the California court decision raises the truly dangerous possibility that shortsighted courts in other parts of the country will rush to act in a similar fashion. There is the harrowing specter of dissolving entirely a family's right to control education.
Rather than calmly waiting for the effects of the California court's opinion to be felt here, Georgia legislators and other state leaders should be speaking loudly and clearly against this destructive decision. They should already be reviewing our laws as they relate to home schooling - to strengthen them against the onslaught that has now been empowered by the California Court of Appeals.
